Addie Turns 5

It is hard to believe, but Addie turned 5 years old today. It seems like only yesterday I was dreaming of being pregnant- and boom- here is my miracle turning 5- FIVE!!

Addie, my dearest daughter,

You have changed SO much this year. You have truly blossomed and turned into a full-fledged girl- no babyness about you at all! Baby dolls- dressing them, changing their diapers, feeding them, taking them everywhere with you- this is your passion. Someday you will make an amazing Mommy. You also have become quite the little dancer, although I doubt the world will ever know your amazing moves since you abhor crowds and being in front of them, even in with a group of people. Writing and learning to read excite you- you are always asking me how to spell different words- and you amaze me as we are driving and you point out a word you have sounded out, all on your own! Most of the time, you adore bossing your brother around and playing school- I have a hunch you will make an amazing teacher someday! You also have some pretty impressive art skills- drawing, photography, singing- God has certainly gifted you in that area- your father and I can take no credit for that at all! Your impromptu hugs, smiles and "I love you Mommy!"'s are the best in the entire wide-world. When Daddy opens the Bible to read after dinner, your enthusiasm and desire to learn about God, warm our hearts more than anything else you do. God has big plans for you- we can't wait to see what they are!

Your father and I love you and are so proud to call you our daughter!!

Love,

Your Mommy and Daddy- Alden, too

Now for a trip down Memory Lane....

Addie- 1 day old

6mo old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

The time has flown by- and you will be driving before I know it- but until then, I love and am very proud of you!!

And here is her year in review.... She's 1 busy little girl!! You will see some common themes- friends, food and playing outside!

More of Goofy Boy

Alden's latest obsession is football. He loves it. He sleeps with his 2 footballs. He is constantly asking me to catch the ball (trying to get me to let him throw the ball inside).

Ready, set...

Future linebacker- he runs with his hand infront to push away the "bad guys"

TOUCHDOWN!!

In NY my in-laws have this ancient horse- and he LOVES it. It was freezing (literally) and he was happy as a lark riding it around, chasing the dogs!

His new look- his skull hat and coordinating, red, gloves. He wears them 24/7. And he is also growing increasingly fond of his red snowmen PJ's. This lovely look was happening at 4pm- he woke-up from his nap and requested to change into his pj's- and then he "rode" around on his horse, happily for the rest of the afternoon and evening!

He sure is silly and I love him for it!!

American Girl Doll Adventure

Addie is spoiled- and I wouldn't have it any other way!! All her grandparents make sure she has a special birthday, even though it's so close to Christmas. This year, the year she turned 5 (yikes!), was going to be all about her American Girl Doll. Her NY Grandparents were going to take her into New York City to pick out her very own American Girl Doll that looks just like her. She has been SO excited about this, drooling over the catalogs that seem to always come in the mail.

Finally, the week of Thanksgiving came- she had to survive Monday- and then Tuesday we took off to NY first thing in the morning! Al had to work, but he would come and join us on Thursday.

Tuesday morning, she was SO excited to be going into The City to get HER doll- which she had already named Rosie. Here she is all ready to go- wearing a special outfit with the skyline of NYC on it!

Practicing showing 5 fingers- she seems so grown-up- gulp!!

There are no pics yet of her actual DAY there- they are all on PopPop's camera- but they will come and I will post them! She had a fantastic day and now has life-long memories!!

Back home- here she is with her beloved Rosie-Kyla (had to tack on the 2nd name after her good friend Kyla in NC). Notice the size of that bag behind her!! Other family chipped in money so she could go on a shopping spree- thank you all!!

One purchase was a baby carrier that Gramma Jenny purchased- she loves being able to carry her baby and have her hands free!

Combing Rosie-Kyla's hair while watching TV at the end of the day. She now doesn't complain when I comb tangles out of her hair. Why? Rosie-Kyla doesn't cry when Addie gets tangles out of her hair, so Addie doesn't cry now, either!

What a special and fantastic 5th birthday event- thank you MarMar and PopPop!!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving day dawned clear and cold! We woke-up and enjoyed my pumpkin muffins, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and anxiously awaited Al's arrival!

All dolled up (lol) and watching the parade

Alden was obsessed with the turkey- when he saw it in the fridge, when it was getting prepped for the oven, and all the way to the table where he ate a few bites!

Keeping on eye on PopPop

DADDY!!!! When Alden saw Al drive up, he ran outside to greet him!! Al made it to NY in record time- what a great Dad to drive all the way there, leaving home at 3:45am, just so he could watch the parade with his kids!!

The kids' table

The boys had a blast playing together with the Legos

Silly kiddos!!

Alden discovered a new love- peanuts! He ate a ton of them! I love this pic because you see his pile of shells, his Lego creation and his need of water due to all the peanuts!

The boys had a blast tilting MarMar's chair all the way up until it dumped the other out! The played this game for ages- never getting tired of it.

The girls had fun burning off their turkey dinner by playing Dance Dance Revolution. Addie had a blast playing alongside the grown-ups- and she showed us she really IS learning some good moves in her dance lessons at school!

MarMar and PopPop surprised her with an icecream cake with dessert!

What a sweet girl we have been blessed with!!

By the end of the night, all kids were spent. No naps + hard playing all day + lots of sugar = CRANKY kids. Here, Nate was crying because he had just gotten in trouble, and Addie came over and pulled him onto her lap, which he curled into and just sobbed into her shoulder. She was so sweet comforting him- it just melted my heart!

We had a great time with family- and are thankful for them all!!

Silly Boy...

Alden is 100% boy! These pics just sum-up his vivid imagination and need for adventure....

Sunglasses- check (they are Lady and the Tramp)

Laundry Basket- check

Broom- check

Adventure- ready to row all over the ocean fighting off sharks and pirates!

I love this little guy- he is SO different from Addie, I love it!

Deck the Halls....

I know, I know, it's "too early" to decorate for Christmas, but I just couldn't help myself- everywhere I turned, it's Christmas- Sanat's at the mall, stores are playing Christmas music, everything is decorated..... On Saturday evening, we pulled out all the stops and decorated a full week early this year! To say that the kids were excited is an understatement!

Alden "helping" Daddy put up our tree- he was great at matching the colors at the end of each branch. This poor tree- it was $20, 10 years ago, and is actually starting to shed- guess it's time to look into a new tree....

Al "fluffing" the tree

Wish this wasn't fuzzy- Addie got giddy once the lights were on! And the lights are skimpy- there were 2 strings that worked last year, but didn't last night. If you know me, I wasn't about to stop- we would just make 2 strings of lights work instead of stopping and restarting the next day!

SO excited to have pizza for dinner, in the living room, watching Frosty the Snowman (their choice) and getting ready to put ornaments on the tree! They both told me it was a perfect night!

Let the decorating begin!!

I love them in the Santa hats- an excellent deal I scored last year- they love wearing them, too!

She kept wanting to give me this super-cheesy grin next to the tree! (Side note- Yes, Addie is wearing a band-aid on her nose. A few weeks ago, her nose got a scratch on it and since her glasses constantly rub on it, the sore never got a chance to heal- thus the band-aid!)

I love his cheesy smile- he was SO excited!!

Helping Mommy unpack the Nativity

She was so proud that she knew every character!

Silly boy!

Showing off her new snowman pj's!

Someone was DONE- ready for bed...

The promise of a candy cane if he smiles and sleeps in- yup, that's all it took to get that smile!

Saying good-night to baby Jesus and his friends....

Yes, I know, it's not 74 days til Christmas- but I love this sign and pic from last year.... We will be replacing the Santa pic hopefully next week sometime- the kids can't wait to see him!

Playroom decorated- Addie was devastated Sunday morning when she woke-up and the stockings had NOT been filled!! We need to work a bit more on the concept of the actual day of Christmas- and that it can't be every day....

Alden's tree- we are letting the kids have their own trees in their rooms this year. Alden wanted the red bows and a few of his special ornaments that his MarMar gave him.

Addie's tree- it was actually our first Christmas tree since our apartment was so small! She kept picking big, heavy ornaments to put on it, and then would get upset when it would topple over.... Finally, after some help from Daddy, she achieved her desired result!

We are SO blessed- and are looking forward to enjoying these decorations for a whole month!!